


Episode 2.12: Itsy Bitsy Spider-Man

by Starbooks13



Series: Spiders Have To Stick Together [38]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Age of Ultron Will Probably Have Minimal Effect On This Verse, BAMF Natasha Romanov, Blending Universes, Canon Compliant, Dubcon Kissing, Emphasis on the Hate, Evil Loki, F/M, Foe Yay, I hope, I'm Keeping My Fingers Crossed, Loki Does What He Wants, Loki's Ego, Lust/Hate, Mind Games, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Or It May Not If This Fic Fits With The Season Premiere, Power Play, Protective Natasha Romanov, SO much Foe Yay, Season 3 May Screw Everything Up, Spiders Have To Stick Together, Worthy Opponents, a little dark, sort of not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 10:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2619149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbooks13/pseuds/Starbooks13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Loki is an adult again and plays a vicious game with SHIELD's other spider.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Episode 2.12: Itsy Bitsy Spider-Man

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying very hard to keep this entire series rated G, but Loki decided to get a little dark on me this time around, so I can only hope I kept him mostly in check. Enjoy!

                Loki leaned against the balcony railing, enjoying the nighttime view of Central Park from his penthouse suite as he sipped from a glass of the finest champagne the hotel offered.  Despite its many flaws, Midgard at least hosted certain luxuries befitting a true prince of Asgard.  Ah, how he had missed such comforts during his latest imprisonment—particularly since, trapped as a child, he would not have been able to indulge in them even if he were free.

                The stillness of the evening was broken by the click of a gun and an alluring female voice. “Someone’s been a busy boy the past couple weeks.”  Speaking of things a child could not properly indulge in…

                “I was wondering when you were going to track me down,” he said, turning to face his not entirely unexpected guest.  “Then again, I’m not the only one who’s been busy lately.”

                Natasha Romanoff was certainly a sight for sore eyes, standing between him and the doors to his suite in her black catsuit, a gun trained on his heart.  “Yes, well, with Thor off fixing all the otherworldly disasters you’ve caused lately, we’ve been a bit shorthanded.”  She raises an eyebrow.  “Speaking of which, how much longer until your ego recovers from its beating? SHIELD is getting tired of all the equipment malfunctions and information leaks.”  A dangerous edge crept into her voice.  “They’ve resulted in not a few blown covers.  And let’s not even get started on the Avengers-level attacks you’ve been committing.”

                He chuckled.  “I think I’ve sufficiently increased the red in my ledger to repair the damage done to my reputation by your fellow spider.”  Carefully chosen words had always been his greatest weapons, and these did not miss their mark.  Natasha did not flinch, but her finger flexed slightly on the trigger.  He allowed himself a smirk.  “Come now, put that away.  If you had wanted to shoot me, you would have done so by now.” 

                She cautiously lowered and holstered her weapon, never once taking her eyes off him.  “It got you talking, didn’t it?”

                He shrugged.  “I would have been as receptive to a more…pleasant overture.”  He raised his glass.  “Care for a drink?  This particular brand is actually quite good, for Midgardian alcohol.”

                “And we both know what a low opinion Asgardians have of Midgardian alcohol,” she commented dryly, turning to enter his penthouse with a blatant sway in her hips.  He licked his lips.  Well, well, it seemed he wasn’t the only one in the mood to play.  Though what the Black Widow’s game was, he was not sure.  He followed her inside, shutting the balcony doors behind him, and smiled when he saw her holding the extra glass that had been delivered with champagne. He had ordered a bottle for two, after all. She gave him a look as he crossed the room to join her.  “Expecting someone?”

                More like hoping for her to put in an appearance, though he’d never tell her that.  He instead asked a question of his own.  “Did you miss me while I was away, little spider?”

                “Don’t flatter yourself,” she scoffed as she poured champagne into the empty glass.  “I’m just not one to turn down a free drink.”

                “Even when it’s proffered by such bloodstained hands?” He held out his own mostly empty glass, and their eyes met as she refilled it.  As usual, her expression was unreadable, her mask firmly in place, but he loved the challenge of stripping it from her.

                “My hands aren’t exactly snow white, either,” she remarked, almost casually, as she set the bottle aside, but he caught the bitter undercurrent.  His remark about red ledgers had definitely hit its mark.

                “To our mutual bloody hands, then,” he toasted and his smirk widened when she clinked her glass against his perhaps a little harder than necessary.  He watched her take a sip.  “Perhaps the drink will ease your guilt for the lives you failed to save.”

                Her eyes flashed as she immediately set the glass aside, though her voice remained even and controlled.  “Failed to save from what?  Your overinflated ego that couldn’t stand being outwitted by a child—for the third time?”

                Now they were getting somewhere.  “Is that why you’re really here?  For the other little spider?” he asked as he set his glass next to hers.

                “I swear I did not tell Fury to send the children after Thor,” she responded with an unexpected undercurrent of emotion.  Ah, so she was here for the boy.  “The Avengers didn’t even think SHIELD should get involved.  Stark, Rogers, and I wanted to search the river ourselves, but Fury beat us to the punch.”

                “I care not how Spider-Man crossed my path again, only that he did and that yet again he was instrumental in my defeat,” Loki growled, letting her see his lingering resentment.  He’d come to expect such constant thwarting from the Avengers, with both his brother and the Black Widow in their ranks, but from a Midgardian child?  One who had aided in his most humiliating defeat yet?  There was a reason he’d wrecked such chaos and destruction since reversing the effects of the Norn Stone and escaping his imprisonment on Asgard.  The boy had severely damaged his reputation not only on Midgard, but throughout the cosmos.  “The slight he committed against me was more severe than anything you have ever done to me, Natasha.  You cannot deny that.”

                She smirked.  “I wouldn’t dream of it.  I still wish I’d done it myself.”

                “Then you understand that this matter is between your protégé and me.”

                Her expression hardened.  “And you understand that he is under my protection.  I won’t let you hurt him.”

                He laughed cruelly.  “How do you hope to accomplish such a task when you cannot even protect him from his own allies?” She paled slightly and he laughed again.  “You think I have not been keeping an eye on him myself?  Victor may not deem him a threat, but I know better.  I’ve seen how well you defended him when his best friend’s father turned out to be the very man trying to destroy him.  And where were you when his mentor in your organization became a monster and tried to kill him? No, all you have done to your fellow spider is put him in danger time and again.  I would not even know of his existence had you not woven us within the same web.”  She moved to turn away, but he caught her face in his hands and forced her to look him in the eye.  He needed to see, to know that his words had struck true.  “If there is anyone he needs protection from, Natasha, it is you.”

                “Damn you,” she hissed, struggling against him. The helpless rage in her gaze told him everything, and with sharp grin he yanked her closer, crushing his mouth against hers.  He intended to savor this moment as thoroughly as possible.  For once, he had bested her.

                That moment unfortunately did not last long, as Natasha caught his lower lip between her teeth and bit down hard enough to draw blood.  He released her on instinct, hissing at the sting, only to feel a far more painful sting as she struck him across the face with her Widow’s Bite.  The electricity, only slightly less staggering than being hit by Thor’s lightning, sent him careening into the nearby table.  He recovered quickly, only to find Natasha on the opposite side of the room, both her guns aimed at him this time.  He leaned back against the table and laughed.  “No one likes a sore loser, little spider.”

                “Said the pot to the kettle,” she fired back.  Her walls were up again, no emotion in her eyes save cold fury, but he didn’t care.  That sweet instant of vulnerability would fuel his darker fantasies for months to come.

                “I’ll not deny my shortcomings in that arena.” He let his eyes narrow.  “And on that note, Spider-Man will pay.  Not tomorrow, maybe not even within the year, but he shall.  And then, just as now, you will be helpless to protect him from me.”

                To his surprise, Natasha holstered her guns.  Her anger melted away, replaced instead by a small, sly smile.   “Then it’s a good thing that, by the time you’re ready for revenge, he won’t need my protection.”  Before he could respond, she sauntered past him, unlocked the balcony doors, and stepped outside.  He followed her out just in time to see her climbing over the side of the railing.  She looked at him one more time and her smile widened.  “As always, thank you for your cooperation.” She dropped over the side and a moment later the Avengers’ Quinjet rose into view, soaring away from his hotel towards Stark’s infernal tower.

                By the Nine Realms, she’d played him.  _Again_.

                What a Hel of a woman his spider was.

**Author's Note:**

> I was worried for a while that this fic would end with Loki getting the better of Nat, but then I realized that her character arc so far this season of my fic verse has been seeing how much more capable of protecting himself Peter has become and starting to trust in him more. So having her turn the tables on Loki at the last minute after he'd revealed the trajectory for his revenge plans became a natural conclusion after that. Additionally, I'm hoping that this story will fit well with the events of the Season 3 premiere (which I have yet to watch--I'm saving watching Season 3 until after I finish all my Season 2 fics) since I know that it's Loki's next appearance in the show after this episode, and that since it will be the first time the show has actually had Natasha and Peter interact it's unlikely she plays a role in saving him from Loki's plot.
> 
> Again, thank you to all the lovely people who keep reading this series despite my irregular updating schedule (honest truth: there is no schedule except my temperamental muse). My first Spiders story now has nearly 1500 hits, and it makes me so happy to know that so many people are interested in what I have to write. I can only hope that each of those almost-1500 readers has enjoyed what they've read. :)


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